Darwen Aldridge Community Academy opened in September 2008 and is the first Academy in the UK to have a specialism of Entrepreneurship. The Academy is sponsored by The Aldridge Foundation which uses entrepreneurship as a catalyst for creating lasting social change.

The Foundation was keen to create a space at the heart of the Academy which would allow young businesses to grow and flourish – Darwen Creates was the result. Led by leading entrepreneur Rod Aldridge OBE, the Foundation felt that this opportunity would assist in the regeneration of the local area, and provide benefits and services to the whole local community.

The project was made possible following £750,000 grant funding from No Limits. No Limits promotes the Pennine Lancashire Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI), a central government-funded scheme aimed at promoting enterprise in deprived communities. As part of the No Limits brand, Darwen Creates has been designated an Enterprise Haven for the North West.

Research undertaken by Make Your Mark in 2007 found that ‘running my own business’ is now the top career choice among 14 to 30 year olds and that since 2003 there has been a 22% increase in the number of young people who are thinking about starting a business.

Despite being motivated to set up businesses, the number of young people that actually turn their ideas into reality is significantly lower. Mark Your Mark cite the gap between education and mainstream business support as one of the main barriers to young entrepreneurship, resulting in young people who have developed ideas ‘falling off’ the enterprise journey when they leave school.

Darwen Creates will help to fill this gap and make business start-up a reality for young people and the wider community in the local area.